NHL: At halfway point, Flyers need to start climbing the ladder

Halfway through their shortened season, the Flyers probably aren’t halfway there when it comes to figuring themselves out. There is plenty of optimism from a team trying not to let a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers Tuesday spoil its recent accomplishments. By going on a 9-5-1 run before that Garden loss, the Flyers had given themselves a little breathing room by climbing out of a hole.

Of course, that left them with a lot more struggling to do, too.

A second half similar to their first 24 games and the Flyers can likely forget about the playoffs. They stand at 11-12-1 with the always fun Pittsburgh Penguins coming into Wells Fargo Center Thursday night. Beyond that tough game comes a trip to Boston for a Saturday matinee, and a Sunday home game against the lowly Buffalo Sabres, which also won’t be easy since it’s the second game of a back-and-back...and it’s almost a rule now that teams can’t sweep those things anymore.

“Every game is more and more important,” Scott Hartnell said. “If the NHL planned this for the whole lockout or anything like that (I don’t know)...but it seems like it’s been playoff hockey since Game 15 or Game 20. It’s been awesome.”

Maybe the feeling has been thrilling. The results? Not so much.

Considering the number of games in hand most other teams have over them, this first half has essentially left the Flyers on the outside looking in for a playoff spot. But it’s not a stretch at all to say they’ve got the capability to go on a little run at any time to feel a little more playoff secure.

Of course, it might be just as easy to go the other way.

That’s really what this Flyers team leaves you with — no strong feeling either way.

From a scoring standpoint, Claude Giroux has had his moments, but in other games he hasn’t. His problem mostly has to do with lack of steady chemistry with his linemates. He had that with Jaromir Jagr, but Paul Holmgren chose not to give him an offer he couldn’t refuse, so he went to Dallas. That and a spate of injuries to a few top-line wingers has left Giroux fishing for consistency.

Then there are Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds, who have both been consistently excellent. Their fast progress leaves Flyers fans excited and wanting more. But at 35, Danny Briere has had some difficulty meshing with Simmonds and Brayden Schenn on the second line. And even more worry worthy is the absolute lack of anything offensive from third-line stalwarts Sean Couturier and Max Talbot.

Couturier clearly seems to be suffering from a nasty case of sophomore slump. If the Flyers really do have to entertain a major forward change to bring in what they so desperately need — a defenseman who can quarterback a power play and offer toughness, too — then maybe Couturier wouldn’t be so untouchable anymore.

Since the NHL trading deadline is almost four weeks away, all of that is still left to be played out. As it is, however, the Flyers’ defense seems one good injury away from buckling.

And we’re not talking about an Andrej Meszaros injury. We’re saying a good injury.

Meszaros is a week and counting behind the original prognosis on his shoulder injury. So he’s listed as day to day but could easily be week to week and hopefully isn’t month to month. The way the Flyers give injury reports, Meszaros’ constant state of uncertainty fits right in.

Now Nick Grossmann has a lower-groin-body injury, and along with Meszaros and Matt Read, whose six-week injury absence might instead be three or less, all guesses as to their availability are on a day to day basis. But it’s easy to say the urgency level to trade for a defenseman has gone from Code Yellow to Code Orange.

Thankfully for all Flyers, injured and non-injured, there is Ilya Bryzgalov to fall back on. Sometimes literally.

Despite the occasional pratfall, the goalie has largely been consistent and seems much more confident. So much so that he offered this opinion after that loss in New York.

“We’re not good,” Bryzgalov said.

Now there’s a slogan for the second half.

Bryzgalov logged 22 of the 24 games so far and although his honesty may not endear him to everyone, there is little reason to believe Peter Laviolette won’t keep working his starting goaltender on a daily basis. Of course, there’s a good reason for that...his team isn’t all that good.

“We weren’t in a situation back in the beginning of February to rest anybody,” Laviolette said. “What good is resting players for the playoffs if you don’t make the playoffs? So it’s kind of been all hands on deck. We needed to get back to where we need to be. As we move forward and if we continue to climb up the ladder, I think you can look at it and assess the situation. But I’d be guessing at this point to tell you what the future holds.”

Him and everybody else. From top line to a potential bottoming out for the defense, these Flyers have another 24 games to tell their season story.